


The Time the "Dirty Chai" Met "The Green Eye"

by vodkatiia



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-09 15:09:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1147447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vodkatiia/pseuds/vodkatiia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College isn’t cheap or easy, and Annie is learning that the hard way. After spending most of her money on (overpriced) books, (overpriced) food, and—“The elixir of life in the morning.” as her coworker Jean refers to it as—(overpriced) coffee, she begrudgingly takes a job at the local Starbucks; she spends most of her time there, anyway—drinking coffee, studying…maybe sneaking a few glances at the blond boy that always sits two tables in front of her…</p><p><i>Hell</i>, maybe now that she’s actually working in the place, she’ll get a reason to talk to him. With her luck, though, <i>anything</i> could happen. </p><p>And with her luck, anything <i>does</i> happen. From awkward first encounters, to even <i>more</i> awkward mishaps, this whole “first job” ordeal sure is working out in one strange way for Annie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Green Eye

**Author's Note:**

> I got a request on Tumblr for an AruAni coffee shop AU, and it was so appealing that I just couldn't say no! I guess I'm going a _bit_ overboard by making this a multi-chapter fic, but- *shrugs loudly*
> 
> I'll try to update chapters once a week (if I can).
> 
> (Information about the drinks in the title found [here](http://food.allwomenstalk.com/best-starbucks-drinks-to-enjoy/7/) and [here](http://starbuckssecretmenu.net/starbucks-secret-menu-green-eye/).)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie fills out her application for Starubucks, then celebrates the feat with her two best friends over a cup of coffee, and some good old “boy talk”.

"Why do these damn things take so long to fill out," Annie mumbled, mostly to herself, as she typed and clicked away on her laptop, trying to fill out a job application to Starbucks. "I just want to work there, not _sell my body and soul_ to them." Her fingers slammed against the keys especially hard as she said that, and she could feel her patience with the entire ordeal running thin; after a half an hour of answering meaningless questions, filling out _countless_ boxes with information about herself, and complaining about it the entire time, Annie felt as if she was getting absolutely nowhere in this process.

There was the sound of laughter behind her, followed by the clacking of wheels against hardwood floor; none other than her childhood friend Reiner popped up behind her back just a few seconds later.  
"Didn't you know?" he asked, an amused expression on his face. "Getting a job is the _exact same thing_ as selling your body and soul," he winked at her at that, obviously amused at his own joke, "you just get paid for it."

"It's true, you know," Bertholdt chimed in, walking up to the other two and wrapping his arms around Reiner's neck. "I'm pretty sure my soul is completely gone after working only a week at McDonalds…"

Annie snorted at that and craned her neck a bit so she could smirk at the tall boy. "I still can't believe you're working at that shit hole."

"H-hey…it's not that bad," Bertholdt replied, ducking his head in the process—he was a _bit_ embarrassed about his job, but he needed the money—"Besides, I need to get through college, and it's not going to pay for itself."

Shrugging in response, Annie turned back around and continued the arduous process of filling out her application.  
It turns out that she didn't have much left to do at all, and _that_ she was glad for; a few moments after the trio stopped talking, she was putting the final touches on the last page and then hitting "submit".

"Fucking finally," she sighed in relief.

"I was starting to get tired of watching you," Reiner joked, slapping her on the back in a congratulatory manner. If she wasn't so used to his heavy-handedness, she would have flinched—instead, she simply glared at him, to which he only smiled fondly back at her.

Leaning over Reiner's shoulders, Bertholdt opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked like he was trying to piece together what he wanted to say, but Annie knew him better than that.  
"What is it, Bert," she said, leaving no room for him to back out of what he had to say.

If he wasn't so used to her brash nature, Bertholdt was sure he would have been intimidated by her tone of voice—not that Annie didn't _ever_ intimidate him. Nonetheless, he knew her, and this was her "I'm listening." tone. If he wanted to propose his suggestion to her, now would be the ideal time.

"I was thinking that we could maybe go out to celebrate you getting done with your application," he said with a shrug. "We could go out for coffee…my treat." He ended with a small, genuine smile, and Annie couldn't help but to smile back at him.

"How appropriate," she joked, poking him in the cheek with her index finger; he blushed at that, and Reiner laughed at him. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me."

Looking pleased with himself, Bertholdt nodded and stood up straight. "Alright then, let's get going!" He started to walk in the direction of the closet in which Reiner and Bertholdt kept their jackets (the two were roommates, and Annie was a frequent visitor to their dorm room), and Annie and Reiner soon followed suit; already having her jacket on her, Annie only had to wait for the other two at the door as they got ready to go out.

Once Reiner and Bertholdt were finished putting on their jackets (which took _entirely too long_ in Annie's opinion; why did they _insist_ on goofing off so much together?), the trio left the room and walked down the crowded hallway to the elevator together. It was around three in the afternoon, and mostly everyone was still in classes, but there were still a few groups of people who _insisted_ on blocking the path of the hallway, because they were too lazy to drag their asses to class.

Annie was having none of that shit.

Shoving her way past anyone who didn't move after a mumbled, "excuse me", the girl was just about ready to explode by the time they reached the elevator. Needless to say, the down button received _much_ abuse within the couple of minutes that they waited.

"You _know_ ," Reiner started gingerly, "it wouldn't hurt to learn a little patience Annie. Especially if you're going to be working with _people_." His eyebrow quirked up as he tried to hold in a smile, knowing that he probably would annoy his friend by saying that.

"You know what _else_ wouldn't hurt, Reiner," Annie replied, keeping her eyes locked on the mirror-like surface of the elevator door. "Minding your own goddamn business."  
It took all of her strength not to laugh when Reiner snorted—trying not to let out a laugh of his own.

* * *

It took a little longer than usual to get to Starbucks, mostly because Bertholdt _insisted_ that they walk since it was nice weather, but they got to their destination in good timing, anyway, and all three of them could confidently say that it was an entertaining walk—mostly because Annie was in a good mood, and a joking one at that.

Her good mood only increased as they entered the coffee shop; the smell of freshly brewed coffee, tea, and other heavenly things wafted in the air, traveling straight to her eagerly awaiting nose.  
" _God_ I've missed this place," she mused, the beginnings of a smile on her lips.

"Annie, you were just here this morning," Bertholdt commented, not able to help the affectionate roll of his eyes.

"That is _completely_ irrelevant."

Walking up to the order counter, Bertholdt and Reiner contemplated on what they wanted, while Annie—once again—waited for them. She, of course, knew what she wanted before she even got here; she rarely ever changed what she got. It was almost always a Green Eye: a simple triple shot of espresso in regular coffee that kept her going for most of the day.

This morning was one of her irregular mornings—one of those mornings where she felt like switching things up a bit—and that's why she was ordering this now. She wasn't crazy enough to get it twice in one day. Turning around and nonchalantly looking towards the tables by the window, she found the source of this morning's routine-break.

Eyebrows furrowed together in deep concentration, a pencil in one hand, his drink in another, and a notebook set on the table in front of him, a blond boy—whom Annie didn't the know the name of—sat.

This guy came to Starbucks everyday at almost the same time as Annie, ordered the same thing everyday, and sat at the same table no matter what. In a way, that made the two of them very similar. But they _weren't_ the same; not at all.  
The difference between them was that sometimes, although the occurrence was rare, the boy would have company with him: a boy Annie knew vaguely from her high school days named Eren, and his friend Mikasa.

Anyway, this morning, Annie decided to try the drink that he always got—something called a "Dirty Chai". She had never been a big fan of Chai, but she supposed that it wouldn't hurt to try this specific variation just once; it had to have a _somewhat_ different taste to it than normal Chai. And if that kid liked it so much, then it couldn't be _all that bad_.

So, against her better judgement, she found herself standing behind him in line that morning, hanging on to every word he said to the barista, then copying his order word-for-word once it was her turn. Lo and behold, she ended up not feeling any type of way towards the drink. She didn't like it, but she didn't _dislike_ it; it was similar to how she felt towards this stranger who completely captured her attention.

Shaking her head at the memory, Annie turned around quickly before she got caught staring. Much to her relief, it seemed as if the two lovebirds were just finishing up on deciding what they wanted. Smiles on their faces, they asked if Annie was ready to order, and she curtly replied that yes, she was, in fact, _born_ ready to order.

Placing their orders quickly, the three made their way to Annie's normal table: two tables behind the blond boy's. Not that she really _cared_ that she sat so close to him…it's just that he wasn't too bad to look at, and she thought that she deserved something nice to rest her gaze upon after hours of staring at the back of the asshole's heads in her classes. Sitting down in a chair, she immediately let her eyes wander in his general direction (she didn't want to be _too_ obvious), and her head sit in the palm of her hand as she rested her elbow on the tabletop.

Reiner and Bertholdt followed her lead, holding a conversation she didn't really care about following, until their names were called and the two got up to grab their drinks. While she waited, Annie took to memory the way the strange boy bit his lip when he was thinking hard, or the—dare she say— _cute_ way he sipped his drink with such blatant concentration.

"Here you go, Annie." The sound of Bertholdt's voice in her ear brought her out of her thoughts quickly, and she mumbled a quiet, "thank you", before taking her drink off his hands.

A few minutes passed in comfortable silence after that exchange, and the three friends sipped their caffeinated beverages. The silence was soon broken, though, by Reiner.

"Just so you know, his name is Armin. Armin Arlert."

Pausing mid-sip, Annie looked up from her drink and raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"We're not stupid, Annie," Bertholdt chimed in, smiling at her a bit mischievously, "We saw the way you were _obviously_ staring at him back in line."

 _Shit_.

"I was _not_ staring at him." She flinched a bit right after she said that—a bit too quickly, a bit too angrily; she was being _way_ too defensive about this. _Keep it cool, Annie_ , she thought to herself, taking another sip of her drink, and trying to to play off her prior words.

"Of course you weren't, sweetie," was Reiner's sarcastic reply.

"Fuck you," was Annie's half-hearted comeback.

Leaning in closer, Bertholdt gave Annie a serious look. "Why don't you just talk to him some time?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck, a bit sheepishly. He wasn't used to giving advice like this, but Annie _was_ his best friend, and he had her best interests in mind. "He's a pretty nice guy."

Leaning back in her chair, Annie huffed out an annoyed sigh. "I'm sure he is, Bert," she deadpanned, averting her eyes from him. "But I'm sure, for _one_ thing, that he wouldn't find interest in a boring girl like me. And secondly," she paused to look back at the two sitting in front of her, "I'm not very good at starting up _friendly_ conversations…but I'm sure you two know that _very well_ by now." Smirking at that, Reiner shrugged, and Bertholdt laughed quietly.

"Still," Bertholdt continued, gaining a bit more confidence, "it wouldn't hurt to at least _try_."

"Au contraire mon cheri, it can…and knowing me, it probably will. A lot."

"You're so silly," Reiner said, rolling his eyes. "Bert's right, though. You should at least try."

Scrutinizing her two friends for any traces of insincerity (which she _knew_ she wouldn't find), she heaved out a sigh, and threw her hands up in defeat.

"Alright, alright, you win." She rolled her eyes at the looks of triumph on their dorky faces. " _If_ I get this job, I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to talk with him, right?"

There was mutual agreement about that statement, and Annie was pleased. She knew in her mind that she would probably have to talk to the kid at some point in her career here, if she got the job. What she didn't know, though, was _just how much_ talking she'd actually do.

If she did know at this moment in time, she probably wouldn't believe it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read this. Comments, Kudos, and _constructive_ criticism is always appreciated.
> 
> Have a nice day, and I hope you'll continue to read what I post. ❤


	2. The Dirty Chai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie (im)patiently waits for the email containing her fate, while Armin patiently waits for the cute blonde girl who always stares at him while he studies to talk to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this chapter is so late, but life is a gift that keeps on giving in more ways than one, and I ended up staying an extended period of time in the hospital with my brother who had a long awaited Kidney transplant. He's recovering quickly, and well, and we're all home now. Today is actually his birthday, so I guess that even though he doesn't ship this, this is kind of a small gift to him. xD
> 
> Also, for some unbeknownst reason, someone asked me to make a tag for this fic on Tumblr. So, if you have any commentary, critiques, recommendations, and all that good stuff, you can post that shit to Tumblr now, too! (The tag is fic: dcge)
> 
> Alright, enough of my blabbering! On to the chapter.
> 
> Hope you enjoy~!

The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted throughout the dorm's small kitchen, and Annie found herself sighing in contentment, almost—but not entirely—forgetting about the stress she was currently undergoing. Stretching her arms out over her head, she tilted herself back in her chair and stared intensely at her roommate Sasha, who was currently indulging in a bag of Potato Chips sitting on the counter. Maybe if she stared long and hard enough, Annie would grab her attention without having to say anything.

Across the room, Sasha could feel a pair of eyes on her and she looked up,quirking her eyebrow at Annie, who stared back at her with a subtle look of accomplishment on her face.  
"Do you need something?" Sasha asked, mouth still full of chips.

It was a small miracle that Annie was able to understand her; she guessed that months of living with the cheerful Brunette aided in her learning "Sasha language", as she liked to call it.

"Get me a cup of coffee," Annie replied, securing her feet under the table's ledge, and rocking her chair back and forth as she continued to stare at her roommate. When she didn't move from her spot, Annie narrowed her eyes, but Sasha still didn't budge.  
Oh, she thought after a few more seconds of their awkward staring contest. She wants me to say please. What a pain.

"Get me a cup of coffee," she repeated, a playful smile forming on her face when Sasha looked back at her with an expression of exasperated annoyance. "Please."

Although Annie's way of speaking was just as curt as ever, Sasha was still pleased with herself for getting Annie to use her manners. With a nod, she bounced over to the coffee maker while Annie waited as patiently as she could for her mug full of heaven.  
Lord knew she needed it right now.

As Sasha poured the hot liquid into Annie's mug, she thought it would be kind to inquire about the girl's job search. "Any news yet?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at Annie, who seemed to drastically change from mildly-stressed, to borderline anxiety attack in seconds.

Shaking her head and letting out an overly-exasperated sigh, Annie carefully leaned forwards in her chair until the front legs touched the linoleum floor once more. Staring hopefully at her laptop's screen, she blinked a few times—just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, and there actually was an email from Starbucks telling her if she got an interview or not. Of course, her eyes weren't deceiving her, and there really wasn't any word from them yet.

It didn't surprise her much, to be perfectly honest; it had only been about three days since she first sent in her application, and it normally took a week or so for them to get back with you—if you were being considered for a job, that was.

"Not a single damn word," she answered dryly, and Sasha gave her a sympathetic look behind her back that she knew Annie wouldn't see, but wanted to offer anyway.

"I'm sure they'll get back to you soon, Annie," she said, gingerly picking up the steaming mug of coffee in her hands and walking back over to the table. She placed the mug next to Annie's laptop, then sat down beside her, scooting her chair closer to the Blonde's.

"Believe me, they could use a coffee expert like you in that joint," she said with a laugh, knowing that the place normally hired broke college students desperate for a job, who didn't really have any experience, or knowledge, with or about their products. Actually having an employee that knew what they were doing and talking about from the get-go would be a step up for them, and Sasha hoped that they would give Annie a chance.

Humming in reply, Annie picked up the mug in front of her and took a sip, warmth flowing down her throat as she swallowed, before it rested pleasantly in her stomach; she smiled a little at the sensation, but shortly after, frowned at the after taste.  
Looks like someone bought the "Shit Flavored" coffee, as it was commonly known as throughout the dorm.

Whoever was buying that needed to stop.

Seeing the look of displeasure on Annie's face, Sasha held in a giggle and instead, got up and took the mug to the sink so she could pour out the contents and rinse the mug out. Annie probably wouldn't remember to do it since she had so much on her mind today, already.

"Looks like Petra bought the coffee, again," she mumbled, mostly to herself.

Although their RA was a nice woman with a good sense of humor and an even better head on her shoulders, she certainly didn't have any taste in coffee; in fact, it was debatable whether or not she had any taste at all. Everything she bought for the dorm ended up being pretty shitty, although her actual cooking was pretty damn good—which came as a surprise to them all the first time they (reluctantly) ate a meal made by her.

So that's who's been buying it, Annie thought, making a mental note to speak with Petra personally about her shady choice in brand.

Letting the subject drop after doing that, Annie looked at her cellphone's clock, and wondered if she'd have enough time before her next class to stop quickly at Starbucks to grab an actual decent coffee. Realizing that she didn't really care about how much time she had—this particular cup of coffee was important to her, dammit!—she got up and prepared to leave.

"Take my laptop back to the room for me, please?" she asked, not wanting to walk all the way back there, only to walk back in this direction again; the sooner she got her coffee, the better. Annie was sure her that Art History professor would appreciate their classroom being left in one piece by the end of the class, and not torn apart by a coffee-deprived beast.

Taking her own phone out of her back pocket and checking the time, Sasha bit her lower lip before nodding slowly in reply. "If I can, I will," she replied, fixing herself up and hurrying over to the table to grab the laptop from it. "I have to meet up with Connie in a few. He's been planning some sort of mystery date for a while now, and I don't want to be late."

Noting the blush on the girl's face, Annie nodded and decided not to comment, lest she ruin Sasha's did, however, roll her eyes at the dramatic way Sasha waggled her eyebrows as she said, "mystery date".  
"Whatever," she said instead, taking her car keys off of the tabletop. "If you can't get back to the room, just drop it off with Petra. I'm sure she'll keep it safe until I get back."

Liking that idea much better, Sasha nodded and perked up "Alright, I'll do that then!"

After a few more arrangements were made, the two made their way out of the room and prepared to go their separate ways for the time being. Stopping at the point where their paths would break off, the two waited for someone to speak first. Although they had been living together for a while now, they still had a lot to learn about interacting with someone who had a personality so different from their own, and they sometimes had awkward moments—this moment being no exception.

Sasha was the first to talk, and she simply smiled and said, "Well, I hope you enjoy your coffee."

Nodding, Annie did her best to return the smile and replied with, "Thanks, I'm sure I will. And I hope you have a nice time with Connie."

Smile growing larger, Sasha nodded enthusiastically. "I always do!" she said with a wink.

Chitchatting a little bit more with each other, the two finally separated after Sasha received a text from Connie, saying that he was waiting for her out in the parking lot.  
Giving a rushed, final goodbye to Annie, Sasha promised that she'd leave the laptop with Petra before she left. Annie was surprised that the girl remembered their arrangement in her blind rush to get to her boyfriend; nonetheless, she was pleased that Sasha didn't need a reminder, and thanked her before she turned around to head off to her own car.

As soon as she exited the dorm building, the warm breeze caressed her skin and Annie almost considered walking to Starbucks—almost; if she wasn't craving coffee so badly, she would have. Seeing as she was nearlydying of deprivation, though, she decided to just stick with her gut and take her beat-up, old pickup truck. It was a choice with no regrets, because as soon as she left the parking lot, she saw that there was construction work going on on the sidewalks.  
Because of this, there was a bit of traffic, but it was nothing that Annie couldn't deal with; she did, after all, have her music to listen to as she drove, and people to stare judgmentally at from her car's window.

And so, with that thought in mind, Annie drove.

* * *

"Looks like Horse Face found himself a little boyfriend." With a smirk on his face, Eren Jaeger took a sip of his Java Chip Frappe and stared onward at a young man behind the ordering counter and another in front of it; he'd never seen the kid with Jean before, and from the looks of it, Jean had never met him before, either. They seemed to be leaning inpretty close to each other for having just met, though, and Eren made a mental note to harass Jean—er, Horse Face—about that later.

Rolling his eyes and taking a sip of his own drink, Armin glanced over as well, but looked away shortly after. "And?" He asked, bringing Eren back to attention. "Why do you care so much? I thought you didn't like him." He smiled in amusement after saying that, because Eren's face went beet red in both annoyance and embarrassment. With Eren, Jean was a touchy subject since the two used to be so close growing up, but then had a falling out of sorts back in their first year of high school; the two's relationship had never been the same since then.

"Fuck you, Armin," he retaliated with a pout, "I don't like him. Not at all. He's a jerk and I couldn't care less about his personal life…I was only making an observation." Glaring at his drink, the boy thought of something else to add after that, because he hated feeling like he hadn't contributed one hundred percent into anything—including conversations.  
"I thought you were all about observing shit," he finally muttered (pathetically), and then stuck his tongue out for extra measure.

Raising his hands up in defense, Armin laughed lightheartedly. "Yeah, I am," he said, putting his hands back down so that he was holding his drink, "but I only observe things that interest me. You know, things that Ilike."

At that, Eren had his own turn to smirk, and Armin was left wondering what it was that he had said that left Eren looking like that. "Things that you like, you say?" He asked, waggling his eyebrows. "You mean like that girl you see here that you talk about all the fucking time?"

This time, it was Armin's turn to glare, blush, and feel annoyance course through him. The way his friend said it made this look like Armin had a strange crush on the girl who sat exactly two tables away from him, next to the window, and always got the same drink…just like him. Alright, maybe he did have a small crush on her, but he wasn't going to just up and admit it; he refused to let Eren have that kind of satisfaction.  
"I don't talk about her all the time, Eren," he answered, hands tapping on the sides of his cup. "And she interests me, but I don't like her like that. I barely even know her!"

Shrugging, Eren took another sip of his drink and then glanced once more at Jean and his little friend talking. "You can still really like a person that you barely even know, Armin," he said with a smirk. "In fact, I'd say that's how most relationships start out—one, or both parties taking an interest in the other, even if they don't know them that well. Then they get to know each other and fate just works it magic from there." Averting his eyes back over to his friend before he got caught staring, Eren was rewarded with the last of a blush leaving the Blond's face.

"You know," he commented, poking him on the forehead, "you're doing that a lot today. The blushing thing, I mean."

"Yeah? Well that's only because there's so much embarrassing shit coming out of your mouth today." Armin could feel his mood dampening more and more by the second, and his heart was beating like a rampant drum in his chest. Why did Eren have to be so good at analyzing situations like this?

Back at the other end of the table, Eren tried not to burst out laughing at Armin's little episode (it reminded him of a little kid throwing a small tantrum). Although Eren had known Armin since they were very young, it was still a surprise when the kid cursed. Instead of commentating further, he busied himself with staring out the window contemplatively, drinking his Frappe innocently.

That momentary innocence flew out that window, though, when he sawher.

Wanting to inform Armin of his most recent discovery, Eren turned himself around and started to open his mouth to speak. Armin cut him off before he could even utter a syllable.

"I know." Was his simple remark, and Eren knew to keep his mouth shut.

Over at the door, Annie was frowning deeply as she entered the shop. The drive over had taken a lot longer than she wanted it to, and she felt just about ready to bash in the head of the first person who made eye contact with her.

Stupid construction work, she thought to herself as she scurried over to the ordering counter. And even that mundane task took a long time—ordering, that is—because some tall, dark haired loser was trying to hit on Kirschstein. In the end, she almost had to forcibly tear them apart in order to get a single word in, let alone her order.

When she finally did that, though, and got her drink, she could feel herself calm down a bit, and she was able to make it from the counter to her regular table without any problems, or casualties made. Sipping at her drink silently and staring out the window, she didn't even notice a pair of Ocean Blue eyes on her; even if she did, she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of her meeting their gaze. At least, not just yet.

The person doing all of the staring sighed in agitation and placed their head in their hands. "You know," Armin started in a hushed voice, and Eren prepared himself for a long, lovelorn speech. "She sits there every day, and sometimes she stares over here at me…you'd think she'd come and talk to me some time."

"Maybe she wants you to talk to her first," Eren suggested. All he got out of that, though, was a look from Armin that screamed, "Are you insane?"

"Hey, it was just a thought. Besides, it would do you some good to grow a pair when it comes to girls. You're gonna get nowhere if you make them do all the work."

Rolling his eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day—he tended to do it a lot in Eren's presence—Armin shook his head, and got up. Staring up at him quizically, Eren quirked an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" he asked, getting up with him. He hoped that he hadn't gone too far with that last comment he made; the last thing he wanted to do was upset Armin. Stupid, stupid, stupid… he scolded himself in his head.

"I've got to get to class," Armin answered, checking the table for anything important he might have left there. When he saw nothing, he looked back up at Eren and smirked. "And so you do you. If you skip one more time this week, I'm sure Shadis is going to say something to you. And we both know how well that went last time."

Scowling, but agreeing nonetheless with Armin's statement, Eren readied himself to leave. "You're right," he said with a defeated sigh and shrug of his shoulders, "as always."

"I'm glad that you've finally come to accept my pure, unadulterated knowledge."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Eren scoffed, playfully shoving Armin as they walked towards the exit together—a little bit too hard.

With a small, startled cry, Armin fell forward, elbows stopping him from completely crashing into the table next to him. When he got himself together enough to turn around and glare at Eren, he only got a terrified look in return. But Eren's eyes weren't looking at him; instead, they were looking beyond him. Armin wondered what was so scary about an empty table. Was his friend seeing a ghost or something?

Turning back around, Armin almost cried out when he was met with icy Blue eyes glaring at him. Averting his gaze from them, Armin nervously tried to remember how to speak as his mind took more of the girl in front of him in. This was her up close—the girl he'd wanted to talk to for so long.

"I…" he started, but the words just wouldn't come out.

Annie sat in her chair silently, a look of boredom on her face; on the inside, though, she was freaking out, and her heart was thumping in her chest a mile a minute. Why is he so close to my face? she wondered, hoping that she wasn't sweating out of nervous tension.

"I-I'm…I'm…" Armin still couldn't get the words out of his mouth; his close proximity to this girl was making him more nervous than he should have been. And as much as he wanted to put some space between them so that they both could breathe, Armin found that his body just didn't want to cooperate with him.

This is pathetic, Eren found himself thinking as he walked over to the table his friend was currently hanging over. "He's trying to say that he's sorry," he said, an apologetic smile on his face. Pulling Armin up gently by his collar, he shook his head at the poor kid and then started to lead him toward the exit.

"Say goodbye to the pretty lady, Armin."

The whole situation he just got himself into would have been even more embarrassing if he would have done what Eren had told him to do. Luckily for him, though, his mind started to work again as soon as Eren started to lead him away.

With a shake of his head, Armin snapped himself out of his daze. "I'm sorry!" he managed to blurt out just before Eren got him outside.

When the door closed behind the two, and Annie could see them walking back in the direction of campus, she let out a sigh, a heavy blush starting to cover her face.

She could still feel Armin's Chai-scented breath on her lips even after he was out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read this. Comments, Kudos, and _constructive_ criticism is always appreciated.
> 
> Have a nice day, and I hope you'll continue to read what I post. ❤


End file.
